[media presentation below] GospelThink Tuesday, January 23 MARK 3:31-35 If you manage to follow God’s Will, you will always be close to me. Prayerthoughts a. As I look at my immediate family, are there some relationships that I should work on? b. There could have been some division among Jesus’ family members because, as Jesus mentioned elsewhere, some were for Him, and some against Him. In general, when I can, do I try to heal divisions in families, in work and among friends? c. Jesus realizes that His ministry is the most important thing in his life. In my life, what is my “ministry”? What am I called to do on behalf of others? d. Jesus talks about the will of His Father. The will of His Father for Him was to help those people around Him by redeeming them. The will of the Father for me is to do the very best that I can, given the circumstances I am in. In what areas of my life could I do better than I am? e. My prayerthoughts…   Today I will read 2 Samuel, chapter 6 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  THE WILL OF GOD  + One of the questions for our spiritual lives is the question of what is the will of God for us           – Jesus speaks about the will of God in the Gospel without saying what it is exactly                      – he says in the Gospel:           Here are my mother and brothers. (pointing to those in the circle)—                      – that is all of us and humankind                                – that was what he was called to do—touch every human being with his redeeming power  + The will of God extends beyond what Jesus is called to do           – it is also humankind’s call as well—                      – Jesus saying again in the Gospel that the people who do the will of God are as close to him as his closest relatives  + And so, what is will of God?           – as it was for Jesus, it is basically the redemption of humankind                      – in our own way           – obviously, we are not able to carry out redemption on a large scale                      – that is already done—Jesus did it                      – but, we can do it in our own way in our own lives                                – involving a number of things in our spiritual lives, but two of them from the readings today:  + 1 – One perhaps is that we know completely the value and need to worship God           – in the first reading, David gives himself completely to the worship of God                      – involving all of his skills and talents                      – showing us that our worship of God here should be a total giving of ourselves to God and what God wants of us  + And 2 – the will of God is that we make God and the things of God something as important to us as our families are important           – so that desiring what Jesus taught—his principles of life—becomes a real guide for us                      – not merely something that we think about as something that should be done                                – but something that is real and personal                                          – just as our dedication to our families  + The will of God was uppermost in Jesus mind, leading him to redeem us           – the will of God should likewise be uppermost in the follower of Jesus’ minds—you and me,                      – leading us to truly desire to serve God in our world. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Crawling Back to You” — Daughtry SWALLOWING PRIDE The Gospel LUKE 11:1-4 [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.'”

Gospelthink: I taught my disciples to pray saying praise God, ask for God’s help, forgive us, and be aware of your final end. Lord, may I pray always with meaning.

“Lessons learned, bridges burned to the ground, and it’s too late now to put out the fire; tables turned, and I’m the one who’s burning now. Well, I’m doing alright, ‘til I close my eyes, and then I see your face, and it’s no surprise: just like that, I’m crawling back to you just like you said I would. I swallow my pride; now, I’m crawling back to you. I’m out of my head, can’t wait any longer, down on my knees. I thought I was stronger.”

There is little doubt that the most common prayer that is said in the Christian churches is what we have come to call the “Our Father.” The shorter form of the prayer in Luke’s Gospel is probably closer to Jesus’ words according to Scripture scholars. The prayer is significant for the Christian because of a number of reasons, one of them being the stress that Jesus places on forgiveness. As he verbalizes the prayer, Jesus says that a principal part of our prayer to God must be asking for forgiveness, and at the same time, saying to our God that we will forgive others. In Jesus’ mind, forgiveness, both asking for it and giving it, is among the most important directives for a Christian. Examples of forgiveness are easy to see when one studies the romantic songs of our day. In Daughtry’s song “Crawling Back to You,” for example, the man in the relationship who had hurt the other intends to go back to the person he had hurt and on his knees beg for her forgiveness. If she were to act as a Christian, she would forgive him, although she might not want to re-establish the relationship. There are two important points of meditation here for the Christian. First, Christians must truly recognize that they make mistakes. Too often we tend to blame others or give excuses for the things which we have done, and we must be willing to tell our God and others that the sin or fault is really ours. It is truly a difficult action. Secondly, as we recognize that we truly makes mistakes, we know that other people do too. As we would not want our God to hold our mistakes against us, we must not hold others’ mistakes against them. Christians must understand their need to forgive other people, whether they ask for it or not. Our lives on earth are complicated because too often we “burn bridges” in Daughtry’s words where we should not. They could become a lot less complicated if we swallow our pride and learn to practice forgiveness.

PRAYER Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: We must learn the virtue of forgiveness. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. Project: make a presentation on prayer as found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 2623-2643. 2. What is your definition of prayer? 3. Project: make a presentation on the different ideas in Luke’s rendition of the “Our Father” 4. In your opinion, why did Jesus put so much emphasis on forgiveness? 5. Text analysis: “Lessons learned.”  What are the most valuable lessons that should be learned as we grow? Why? 6. Why do people often say that they are just “fine” when they are not just “fine”? 7. Text analysis: “I thought I was stronger.” What are the ways to make us stronger when it comes to romantic love relationships? 8. What are the most common “hurts” that a couple give to each other in a love relationship? 9. In your opinion, do most Christians live out what Jesus directed about forgiveness? Yes or no and why? 10. It is an important point to make concerning asking forgiveness and re-establishing the relationship. Just because one asks for forgiveness does not bring the relationship back. In general, what would the man in the relationship of the song have to do to re-establish the relationship? 11. What is the most common excuse when we have done something that is wrong? 12. In what areas do you see the sin of pride being practiced in our world? 13. What does the song “Crawling Back to You” teach young people?